Justice in Politics and International Relations - JPM768

Institute of Political Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University in Prague

Instructor: Dr Janusz Salamon (lectures); Sarah Ahmed M.A. and Mohamed Saad, M.A. (seminar)

ETCS: 6 credits
Prerequisites: None

PLACE: Nove Butovice campus, classroom 314 [Under the COVID conditions the lectures will also be streamed via ZOOM and recorded.]

In-class lectures simultaneously streamed live on Zoom at

https://cuni-cz.zoom.us/j/95416950850

TIME: TUESDAY, 8.00 - 10.50 [including lectures AND seminars, see below for details]

CONTACTS:

Office hours: Tuesday, 11.00-12.30 at my office at Nove Butovice and online (and at other times after appointment)
Email: janusz.salamon at univ-oxford.com

COURSE OBJECTIVES

This course will introduce students to methods and problems of contemporary moral philosophy. Its primary focus is on the development of moral reasoning skills and the application of those skills to contemporary moral issues. We will read and discuss major classical and contemporary works of philosophical ethics and will debate controversial moral dilemmas, taking into account the contemporary pluralistic and global context of moral thinking.

Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:

· Comprehend and have a clear understanding of the main philosophical attempts to conceptualize our fundamental ethical intuitions

· Outline, analyze and criticize the arguments put forward by the greatest moral thinkers of humanity

Apply critical thinking and reasoning skills to ethical issues in a variety of contemporary contexts

COURSE OUTLINE

Classes 1-2: Moral Diversity as a challenge to the possibility of universalist/global eth:ics: Between ethical monism, relativism and pluralism [DOUBLE LECTURE from 8.00 till 10.50]

Class 3: The problem of Moral Motivation: Why be moral?[Lecture 3 from 8.00 till 9.20 + SEMINAR 1 for Group 1 from 9.30 till 10.50]

Class 4: Lessons from empirical moral psychology [Lecture 4 from 8.00 till 9.20 + SEMINAR 1 for Group 2 from 9.30 till 10.50]

Class 5: Various conceptualisations of the relation between Religion and Ethics [Lecture 5 from 8.00 till 9.20 + SEMINAR 2 for Group 1 from 9.30 till 10.50]

Class 6: The ethics of virtue - Virtue Ethics of Artistotle, Confucius and the role of ethical traditions [Lecture 6 from 8.00 till 9.20 + SEMINAR 2 for Group 2 from 9.30 till 10.50]

Class 7: The ethics of consequences - Utilitarianism/Consequentialism and its limitations [Lecture 7 from 8.00 till 9.20 + SEMINAR 3 for Group 1 from 9.30 till 10.50]

Class 8: Grounding ethics in Human Nature (if such a thing exists)[Lecture 8 from 8.00 till 9.20 + SEMINAR 3 for Group 2 from 9.30 till 10.50]

Class 9: The ethics of duty and respect for personal autonomy - Kantian Deontology [Lecture 9 from 8.00 till 9.20 + SEMINAR 4 for Group 1 from 9.30 till 10.50]

Class 10: Contractarian ethics and the split between public and private morality: Hobbes, Rawls, Habermas [Lecture 10 from 8.00 till 9.20 + SEMINAR 4 for Group 2 from 9.30 till 10.50]

Class 11: Feminist ethics, the ethics of care[Lecture 11 from 8.00 till 9.20 + SEMINAR 5 for Group 1 from 9.30 till 10.50]

Class 12: Ethical problems of the Global Age: Overpopulation and Migration [Lecture 12 from 8.00 till 9.20 + SEMINAR 5 for Group 2 from 9.30 till 10.50]

Class 13: SEMINAR 6 for Group 1 from 8.00 till 9.20 + SEMINAR 6 for Group 2 from 9.30 till 10.50]

COURSE READINGS.

All readings will be available in electronic format available for download from THIS course website (in the SIS).

Additional SEMINAR READINGS will be available for download from the SEMINAR WEBPAGE in MOODLE

Principal readings will be drawn from the following books:

G. Marino (ed.), Ethics: The Essential Writings, Modern Library, 2010.

J. Baggini, Peter S. Fosl, The Ethics Toolkit: A Compendium of Ethical Concepts and Methods, Blackwell Publishing, 2007.

S. M. Cahn, P. Markie, Ethics: History, Theory, and Contemporary Issues, Oxford University Press, 1998.

G. Jones, D. Cardinal, J. Hayward, Moral Philosophy: A Guide to Ethical Theory, Hodder, 2010.

L. Pojman, J. Fieser, Ethics: Discovering Right and Wrong, Wadsworth, 2012.

COURSE GRADING:

Quality participation in the SEMINAR + Final SEMINAR Essay = 50%

Final Exam 50%

Total 100%

SEMINAR INSTRUCTION & FINAL ESSAY INSTRUCTION

The details will be published on the seminar webpage in Moodle. You will also receive an email before the beginning of the semester, so no need to worry at this stage.

EXAM INSTRUCTION

Since due to COVID we are not able to hold an in-class written examination FOR ALL participants, we must settle for a combination of ‘final essay’ and ‘final exam’ in an oral form conducted online. Consequently, - since this course is attended by dozens of students – we have to spread the examination throughout the entire exam period, from early January till mid-February. For this reason, I will enter in the SIS only one exam date for this course, since any exam dates I would enter would in fact ‘symbolic’. Thus the actual exam date is up to you to choose and communicate it to me via email. I should be able to adapt to your chosen date, but I will propose the hour, since – for legal reasons – we have to have at least 2 students present during the online oral exam (we are not allowed to record the exam), therefore I will have to also play the role of a matchmaker. Consequently, if only one of you will ask to be examined on a given day, the exam will not be possible, unless we will find a second student to join us. Thus it would be helpful (although it is not required of you) if you would agree between yourself to ask as a pair to be examined on a given day. Should you have any questions regarding the registration for the exam in the SIS or regarding the manner in which the exam will be conducted, please, let me know via email.

GRADING SCALE:

A = 91-100 % – excellent
B = 81-90 % – very good
C = 71-80 % – good
D = 61-70 % – satisfactory
E = 51-60 % – minimal pass
F = 0-50 % – fail